Method and system of adjusting medical cost through auction

ABSTRACT

To provide a medical cost adjusting method for suppressing a medical cost to a reasonable price so that a person who suffers from a disease can receive an appropriate medical service even if the person is not insured. A medical institution presents a predicted medical cost to be demanded therefrom for a medical service given to a patient as a desired demanding amount and, on the other hand, the patient, who desires to receive the medical service, presents a payable medical cost as a desired medical treatment amount, thus, matching of the desired demanding amount to the desired medical treatment amount is carried out. Accordingly, it is possible of integrating a reverse auction and a regular auction making it possible of efficiently collect members concerned in the auction trade. In the reverse auction, a medical cost is used as an article of trade between a medical institution and a patient. That is, the integrated auction according to the present invention is an auction structure between members wherein a demand for an article of trade is attempted to meet a supply of the same, and this brings about a condition where there is a high possibility of making a successful bid and an effect of markedly reducing a medical cost as compared to a conventional medical cost.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an auction method for adjusting areasonable price for a medical service and, more particularly, to atechnique for integrating a regular auction and a reverse auction toincorporate supports of many and unspecified third parties into a meansto reduce a medical cost.

CROSS REFERENCE OF RELATED APPLICATION

The following U.S. patent application is hereby incorporated byreference in its entity as though fully and completely set forth herein:U.S. application Ser. No. 11/077,038.

BACKGROUND ART

Usually, when a person suffers from a disease and receives a medicalservice at a medical institution, the person needs to pay a medical costas a counter value for the service. In some countries in the world, anindividually paid medical cost is relatively a small amount by virtue ofa social insurance system, whereas, in other countries, each patientmust pay almost entire medical cost charged on the patent by a medicalinstitution. When a medical service is given by a medical treatmentstuff in a medical institution having high specialties and techniques, amedical cost charged on each patient tends to be very high, however, thepatient is usually not sufficiently given an opportunity to raise anobject to the appropriateness of the charged cost.

Accordingly, the patient having no scope of a negotiation on a medicalcost is in a disadvantageous position in that, even the patient hopes toreceive a desired medical service, he or she has no choice but to giveup receiving the service for an economic reason. Particularly incountries such as the USA, high burdens of medical costs are socialproblems for the people except for some people with large incomes andwealth, and a remarkable social phenomenon is that even a person in aserious condition cannot undergo a medical treatment just because he orshe is unable to pay the medical cost.

The problem of an increasing medical cost is not the problem for onlypatients. In many cases, people personally contract medical insurance asa preparation for the payment of high medical costs, however, aninsurance company faces a trouble in that the payment of high medicalcosts with insurance money presses the management thereof, however,raising insurance dues to be collected from insured persons results inreduction of the number of insured persons. Accordingly, the reductionof the increasing medical cost is a fundamental and urgent subject.

On the other hand, taking into consideration of incentives of thebeneficiary liability and the market principle under the capitalism,such behaviors as demanding a high charge from a patient as a countervalue for a medical service of a high technical level or providing amedical doctor having such a high-level medical technique and thereforetaking a large amount of fee should not be the targets of one-sidedcriticism. The matter of concern is that medical costs tend to beextremely increased resulting in that, even people suffering from aslight disease cannot receive medical services whereas only limitednumber of wealthy people can. Further, the basis of the high medicalcost is not purely derived from the above market principle, but a costfor an expected medical lawsuit and the like is included in the medicalcost. Accordingly, the serious problems is that the social environment,wherein some people cannot receive appropriate medical treatments due tothe income gap, has actually been formed.

Accordingly, the present invention has been made to solve the aboveproblems and an object thereof is to provide a medical cost adjustingmethod for suppressing a medical cost to a reasonable price so that evenpeople with small incomes can receive appropriate medical services whenthey suffer from diseases even if they are insured or not insured, andthe adjustment of the reasonable price causes no disadvantage formedical institutions and insurance companies as well as patients.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The medical cost adjusting method according to the present invention isa method for determining a medical cost for a medical service providedby a medical institution to a patient through an auction trade, wherein,regarding each medical service, the medical institution presents apredicted medical cost as a desired providing amount to be charged on apatient for a medical treatment or aid, if given; the patient presents apayable amount for the medical service as a desired obtaining amount;session members are determined as parties concerned in an auction tradeby integrating a reverse auction trade, wherein matching of pieces ofinformation including at least the desired obtaining amount and thedesired providing amount is carried out for a medical institution tomake a bid for the desired obtaining amount presented by the patient,and a regular auction trade, wherein a patient makes a bid for thedesired providing amount presented by the medical institution; anauction trade is carried out by the session members; and an auctiontrade is ended when either of the medical institutions makes a bid forthe desired providing amount, which is less than or equal to the desiredobtaining amount presented by the patient, or when a predeterminedauction ending time is passed.

Further, the medical cost adjusting method according to the presentinvention is a method for determining a medical cost for a medicalservice provided by a medical institution to a patient through anauction trade, wherein a life insurance policy trading is opened as acondition to open an auction for the medical service, the medical costadjusting method comprising, (a) in the life insurance policy trading:(i) a step of putting up an insurance policy as an insurance commodityat an auction by the patient; (i) one insurance company or a pluralityof insurance companies makes (make) a bid for the insurance policy as aninsurance commodity; (iii) a step of making a successful bid for the oneinsurance company or one of the plurality of insurance companies whichhas made a bid at a highest price of not less than a specific price; or(b) in a session for said medical service: (i) a step of presenting bythe patient an insurance money presented by the insurance company, whichhas made a successful bid, as a payable desired obtaining amount for themedical service; (ii) a step of presenting a predicted medical cost as adesired providing amount charged on a patient by the medical institutionfor a medical treatment or aid, if given; and (iii) a step of ending anauction trade of the medical service when either of the above medicalinstitutions makes a bid for the desired providing amount, which is lessthan or equal to the desired obtaining amount presented by the insurancecompany, or when a predetermined auction ending time is passed.

The medical cost adjusting system according to the present invention isa system for determining a medical cost for a medical service providedby a medical institution to a patient through an auction trade, themedical cost adjusting system comprising a system server connected via anetwork, a patient terminal and a medical institution terminal, (a) thepatient terminal transmitting a payable amount for the medical serviceas a desired obtaining amount to the system server via the network; (b)the medical institution terminal transmitting a predicted medical costto be charged on a patient for a medical treatment or aid, if given, tothe system server via the network; (c) the system server (i) determiningsession members as parties concerned in an auction trade by matchingpieces of information including at least the desired obtaining amountand the desired providing amount to integrate a reverse auction trade,wherein a medical institution makes a bid for a desired obtaining amountpresented by the patient, and a regular auction trade, wherein a patientmakes a bid for a desired providing amount presented by the medicalinstitution; (ii) carrying out an auction trade by the session members;and (iii) ending an auction trade when either of the above medicalinstitutions makes a bid for the desired providing amount, which is lessthan or equal to the desired obtaining amount presented by the patient,or a predetermined auction ending time is passed.

The medical cost adjusting system according to the present invention isa system for determining a medical cost for a medical service providedby a medical institution to a patient through an auction trade, themedical cost adjusting system including a subsystem wherein a lifeinsurance policy trading is opened as a condition to open an auction forthe medical service and, (a) in the subsystem of the life insurancepolicy trading: (i) the patient transmits the life insurance policyinformation to a subsystem server via a network; (ii) one insurancecompany or a plurality of insurance companies transmits (transmit) a bidfor the life insurance policy to the subsystem server via the network;(iii) the subsystem server determines to make a successful bid for theone insurance company or one of the plurality of insurance companieswhich has made a bid at a highest price of more than a specific price;or (b) in the system wherein the medical service auction is opened: (i)the patient transmits an insurance amount presented by the insurancecompany which has made a bid in the subsystem as a payable desiredobtaining amount for the medical service to the system server via thenetwork; (ii) the medical institution transmits a predicted medical costas a desired providing amount to be charged on a patient for a medicaltreatment or aid, if given, to the system server via the network; and(iii) the system server ends the trade of the medical service wheneither of the above medical institutions makes a bid for the desiredproviding amount, which is less than or equal to the desired obtainingamount presented by the insurance company, or when a predeterminedauction ending time is passed.

According to the method of adjusting a medical cost through an auctionaccording to the present invention, a predicted medical cost to becharged by a medical institution after providing a medical service to apatient is presented as a desired amount of a charge and, on the otherhand, the patient who desires to accept the medical service presents apayable medical cost as a desired medical charge, thus matching of thedesired amount of charge to the desired medical charge is carried out.Accordingly, a reverse auction and a regular auction carried out using amedical cost as an article of trade between the medical institution andthe patient can be integrated making it possible of efficiently collectmembers concerned in the auction trade. That is, the integrated auctionaccording to the present invention is an auction structure betweenmembers wherein a demand for an article of trade is attempted to meet asupply of the same, and this brings about a condition where there is ahigh possibility of making a successful bit and an effect of markedlyreducing a medical cost as compared to a conventional medical cost.

Further, the present invention is constructed to accept donations sothat many and unspecified third parties other than medical institutionsand patients can participate in an auction trade and therefore, a partor all of medical costs are supported by the donations to give relief topatients conventionally having difficulties in receiving medicalservices due to high medical costs. Furthermore, this system of theintegrated auction and the participation of the third parties in theauction results in the improvement in the business management of amedical institution and the reduction of an amount paid by an insurancecompany as well as the reduction of an amount paid by a patientresulting in the realization of mutual relief aid in the entire society.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the Drawings:

FIG. 1: A basic block diagram of a medical cost adjusting system of oneembodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 2: A view showing an example of an input screen for informationpresented from a patient and a medical institution.

FIG. 3( a): A view showing an example of a data item included in a userobject.

FIG. 3( b): A view showing an example of a data item included in a userobject.

FIG. 4: A flowchart showing an algorithm for automatically determining amedical cost at a reverse session auction as a main form.

FIG. 5: A basic block diagram of a medical cost adjusting system of oneembodiment according to the present invention.

FIG. 6: A flowchart showing an algorithm for automatically determining amedical cost at a regular session auction as a main form.

FIG. 7: A schematic diagram showing a flow of a donation.

FIG. 8: A view showing an auction in a form of integrating a sessiontrade of a medical service and a life insurance policy trading session.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The medical cost adjusting method includes a medical treatment billwhich hospitals charges to patients based on hospitals and doctors toattend a medical treatment and a medical service to patients and theirneeds. The system for realizing the medical cost adjusting methodaccording to the present invention (hereinafter referred to as “themedical cost adjusting system”) is used to trade a medical cost, thatis, a counter value for a medical treatment, in the same manner astrading a substantial commodity between a medical institution and apatient as a supplier and a demander, respectively, through acommunication line such as a network (hereinafter referred to as “thenetwork”). The medical cost adjusting system is one type of aconventional auction system in the sense of commercial trading of anetwork type, and has the following features.

(1) Feature 1 (Integrated Session):

In a commodity trade by a conventional auction system, in addition to ausual commodity trade on a network wherein a seller presents a sellingprice for a commodity to be put up at an auction (hereinafter referredto as “the commodity trade-type regular session or the regularsession”), there is a commodity trade wherein a buyer presents apurchase price (hereinafter referred to as “the commodity trade-typereverse session or the reverse session”). These sessions are eachcarried out in an independent form. Therefore, the sessions processed inthe system are not directly linked with each other and items put up atthe both sessions are not automatically announced to participants. Inother words, since the highest bid prices of commodities do not affecteach other, when the highest bit prices are attempted to be determinedin summarized trades in the regular session and the reverse session, theintervention of a human operation is inevitable. Consequently, thenetwork auction cannot flexibly and quickly meet with needs of a sellerand a purchaser.

On the contrary, the basis of the medical cost adjusting system of thepresent embodiment is an auction wherein a price for a medical treatmentis adjusted in a system wherein the commodity trade-type regular sessionand the commodity trade-type reverse session are integrated. The auctionof the regular session is a system of making a bid by a medicalinstitution as a seller and a patient as a buyer. A specific example isthat, respective patients make bids at 25,000 dollars and 30,000 dollarsfor a medical service announced as “a gastric cancer will be operated atthe least price of 20,000 dollars” and a patient who proposes a highestbid makes a successful bid for the service. On the contrary, in theauction of the reverse session, the patient as a buyer presents adesired medical cost, then medical institutions as sellers make bids foracceptable medical costs for the operation and the patient makes asuccessful bid for a medical institution which has made a bid for thelowest medical cost for the operation. For example, when the patientproposes “will any hospital accept a request for an operation for agastric cancer at the price of not more than 30,000 dollars?” thenrespective medical institutions make bids for the proposal at 28,000dollars and 25,000 dollars, the medical institution which has presenteda low price of 25,000 dollars makes a successful bid.

According to the present invention, when the regular session auction iscarried out, matching search of a patient and a medical institution iscarried out by using a medical cost for the contents of a medicalservice (for example, an upper limit of a payable medical cost presentedby a patient) as a keyword and, as a result, a patient who desires toplay a part in the reverse session auction and to receive a medicalservice is treated as a participant of the auction. Then, when thereverse session auction is performed, matching search is carried out inthe same manner using, for example, a medical cost (for example, a lowerlimit of a price for providing a medical service presented by a medicalinstitution) as a keyword, thereby treating a medical institution whichdesires to play a part in the regular session auction as a participantof the auction. The present invention is characterized in that the gapbetween different sessions is thus eliminated to integrate the regularsession and the reverse session, and to realize an auction as anintegrated auction. In particular, in determination of a medical costtraded mainly at the reverse session auction, a patient presents anupper limit of a payable medical cost and a medical institution havingpresented a lower limit of a medical cost makes a bid, and therefore, aplurality of medical institutions compete with each other at an auctionfor the lower limit of a medical cost so that an effect of reducing amedical cost can be expected.

(2) Feature 2 (Donation Accepting Mechanism):

A party concerned in a commodity trade by the conventional auctionsystem is a party directly concerned in sale and purchase of a commodityto be traded except for a deputy of the party concerned, and a casewhere a person who is not concerned in the commodity trade at all playsa part in the conventional auction system is not assumed.

On the contrary, the medical cost adjusting system of the presentembodiment has a mechanism to allow many and unspecified third partiesother than medical institutions and patients to participate in a medicalcost trade. Specifically, the third parties are concerned in the auctionsystem by making donations for a medical cost to be paid by the patient.Even if an amount of a donation from one person is small, a total amountof donations from hundreds of thousands to millions of people is verylarge. A third party being a member, who makes a donation of even asmall amount through the medical cost adjusting system, actively makes adonation since it is possible that the third party is helped by othermembers when suffering from a disease. Also, these donations areadvantageous for a patient in that the donations equally reduce medicalcosts presented by a plurality of medical institutions as well asgreatly reducing self expenses of insurance companies. Furthermore, thedonations also contribute for medical institutions to stabilize thebusiness management thereof by obtaining patients wherefrom medicalcosts can surely be collected.

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described indetail hereunder with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a basic block diagram of a medical cost adjusting system 100.In the medical cost adjusting system 100, a medical institution and apatient as a supplier and a demander, respectively, trade a medicalcost, that is, a counter value for a medical treatment therebetween inthe same manner as trading a substantial commodity through a network 4.As shown in FIG. 1, each patient uses one of patient terminals 1(1), . .. , 1(n) (hereinafter represented by “the patient terminal 1(x)”)connected to the network 4 as an input means to enter desired “contentsof a medical service (for example, an operation for a gastric cancer)”,“a rate of a self expense (for example, 20%)” in a medical cost chargedby a medical institution, “an upper limit of a payable amount (forexample, 20,000 dollars)” of a medical cost estimated on the basis of aninsurance money received from an insurance company” and the like. On theother hand, the medical institution uses one of medical institutionterminals 2(1), . . . , 2(n) (hereinafter represented by “the medicalinstitution terminal 2(x)”) connected to the network 4 as an input meansto enter “a lower limit of a medical cost (for example, 28,000 dollars)”as a counter value for a medical service desired to be received by thepatient which is estimated from past similar medical costs.

In addition, the above-described information to be entered by thepatient and the medical institution to the medical cost adjusting system100 are only a part of the information for making it easy to understandthe present invention, however, the information to be entered is notlimited to the above information. In order to determine a medical costagreeable between both the patient and the medical institute by usingthe medical cost adjusting system 100, pieces of detailed informationabout many other patients and medical institutions are needed. Thespecific information is described in an example of an information inputscreen shown in FIG. 2.

A session server 3 stores the information entered from the patientterminal 1(x) and the medical institution terminal 2(x) as user objects.FIG. 3 shows an example of data items included in the user objects. Inparticular, there is provided “(f4) object function” as one functioninformation item, and this information is used to distinguish whethereach user object is a passive object or an active object from thefunctional characteristics of the each user object. Furthermore,information about a purpose of using the object such as provision orobtaining is added to determine a type whereto the user object belongsfrom the following four types: (i) active/provision, (ii)active/obtaining, (iii) passive/provision and (iv) passive/obtaining.

In the case of the regular session auction, since the medicalinstitution (a seller side) as a promoter to start the session (themedical institution is therefore active) presents the provision of aservice to the patient (a buyer side), a user object created frominformation entered by the medical institution is an “active/provision”type. Accordingly, since some patient can make a successful bid for themedical service, a user object created from information entered by thepatient is a “passive/provision” type object. Further, since the patientpresents a desired medical cost at the reverse session auction as apromoter to start the session, a user object created from informationentered by the patient is an “active/obtaining” type and a user objectcreated from information entered by the medical institution is a“passive/provision” type.

As described above, in order to effectively reduce a medical cost by thepresent invention, it is appropriate to perform an auction on the basisof the reverse session auction wherein a patient can take initiativemore easily than in the regular session. Accordingly, the opening of thereverse session will be described as an example, however, note that thesignificance of the present invention is not lost even when the regularsession auction is opened. When information required of the patient tocreate an active/obtaining type object including “contents of a medicalservice”, “a self expense rate”, “an upper limit of a payable amount(for example, 20,000 dollars”) and other information shown in FIG. 2 areentered via the patient terminal 1(x), these pieces of information areset in data items of user objects shown in FIG. 3. In addition, it isdesirable that entry by each patient can be simplified by distinguishingthe entry by the patient made at the reverse session auction andautomatically specifying the adjustment of “(f4) object function” to anitem to the “active/obtaining” type. However, the patient may specifythe item by himself or herself.

The basic procedures of the reverse session auction will be describedhereunder.

-   -   Procedure 1: The session server 3 issues a session start        notification message to a medical institution making a bid at        the reverse session auction to notify the start of a reverse        session. The medical institution having received this        notification can grasp the contents of the session through the        screen of the medical institution terminal 2(x). The contents of        the session include, for example, a profile of a patient,        contents of a medical service, a desired medical cost and a        session start date. These contents are also outputted onto a        screen of an optional terminal connected to a session server via        the network 4 so that third parties other than bidders can also        refer to the contents.    -   Procedure 2: The session server 3 further detects a medical        institution which has opened a reverse session auction by        matching search and issues a session start notification message.        Then, the session server 3 starts a reverse session auction when        a session start date has come. The medical institution having        received the start notification is allowed to participate in the        auction without making a final bid and is free to retreat from        the auction.    -   Procedure 3: The patient as a promoter or the medical        institution as a bidder can chose an automatic or a manual (a        human operation of) auction carried out under the management of        the session server 3 until a successful bid is made. In the case        where a successful bid is made automatically, a medical cost is        determined using predetermined parameters (“(f6) parameters in        automatic successful bid” shown in FIG. 3) in accordance with an        algorithm which will be described later.

<Automatic Determination Algorithm for Medical Cost>

FIG. 4 shows an example of a detailed algorithm for automaticdetermination of a medical cost at the reverse session auction as a mainform. First, the session server 3 determines session members before thestart of the reverse session in steps S41 to 44.

The session server 3 searches a medical institution which desires toparticipate in the reverse session auction (step S41). For this purpose,a passive/provision type object can be searched in the registered userobjects. The reason is that, the information entered by the medicalinstitution via the medical institution terminal 2(x) is set as a userobject of a passive/provision type in the reverse session auction asdescribed above. The session server 3 further introduces the medicalinstitution, which desires to participate in the regular session auction(i.e., the active/provision type user object), into the reverse sessionas a member thereof. At this time, the number of search targets isnarrowed to a specific number (step S42). For example, when the patientpresents 30,000 dollars as an upper limit of a payable amount for anoperation for a gastric cancer, it is scarcely possible that the medicalinstitution which presents a lower limit of a medical cost of 40,000dollars makes a successful bid, and it is therefore almost meaninglessto allow this medical institute to participate in the session as amember. Accordingly, the session server 3 picks up only medicalinstitutions which possibly accept the demand of the patient by thematching search using AND conditions including “an operation for gastriccancer” and “a lower limit of a medical cost of not more than 30,000dollars” as matching keywords (step S43). The user objects of thereverse session and the regular session thus selected are set as sessionmembers in the present invention.

Next, donation acceptance processing required in processing in steps S45and subsequent steps will be described.

The information entered by the patient via the patient terminal 1(x)includes an upper limit of a payable amount taking into consideration ofa self expense rate to a medical cost and an insurance money receivedfrom an insurance company. On the other hand, the information entered bythe medical institution via the medical institution terminal 2(x)includes a lower limit of a medical cost estimated from past results ofmedical treatments. When there is a great difference between theseamounts, there is a little chance of finally concluding a trade so thata deal is done (making a successful bid) at the reverse session auctionaccording to the present invention. Accordingly, the donation acceptanceprocessing functions to conclude the trade so that the deal is done atthe reverse session auction by accepting donations from many andunspecified third parties, which are not parties directly concerned inthe trade in the medical cost adjusting system 100 (session members) butobserving the session through the network 4, and to reflect thedonations to the essential reduction of the amount presented by themedical institution.

As described above, the information related to the trade in the sessionis disclosed on optional terminals 6(x) (only one representativeterminal is shown in FIG. 1) connected to the session server 3 via thenetwork 4 in addition to the medical institution terminal 2(x) and thepatient terminal 1(x) so that the third parties other than the bidderscan make donations upon referring to the information. In addition, theinformation referable by the third parties may be controlled by themanagement of the session server 3 for the purpose of protection ofprivacy so that the predetermined information can be concealed or accessthereto can be restricted.

(1) Direct Donation from Third Party:

A predetermined amount (for example, one dollar) may be reflected to anamount presented by the patient or the medical institution each time anyone of the above-described third parties clicks a donation buttonprovided on a screen for an open session displayed on the optionalterminals 6(x) connected to the session server 3. Further, an optionalamount specified by the third party may be sent as a donation. Forexample, when 1,000 dollars is made to the patient who presents an upperlimit of a payable amount of 30,000 dollars at the reverse sessionauction, the upper limit of an amount payable by this patient is changedto 31,000 dollars or, when a donation of 10,000 dollars is made to themedical institution which represents a lower limit of a medical cost of40,000 dollars, the lower limit of a medical cost is changed to 30,000dollars. Changes in an amount of money is preferably reflected in realtime mode at specific time intervals.

The third party having made a donation settles the donation sum throughpredetermined procedures. For example, the session server 3 draws theamount corresponding to the donation to be transferred to a bank accountof a party whereto the donation is made from the third party's bankaccount. When the third party has experienced a trade at the sessionauction according to the present invention, a unique ID number to beadded to each third party can be specified at the time of making adonation to specify the third party's bank account from the informationof this ID number. On the other hand, when the third party makes adonation for the first time, the third party may be made enterinformation for identifying the third party's bank account in additionto personal information, send bank account information from an optionalterminal 6 or send the bank account information by an optional meansafter expressing an intention to make the donation. In addition, thethird party capable of making a donation may be limited to a manager ofthe session server, that is, a one who has passed an admissionexamination given in advance by a person in a managing facility of themedical cost adjusting system.

Results of donations made by donators are stored in “(b8) donationhistory” included in data items of user objects shown in FIG. 3, anddisclosed to a third party if necessary. The purpose of the aboveprocessing is to inspire the motivation of making donations by a thirdparty knowing the detailed results of respective donations made by thepatient and the medical institution during a session. The donationhistory is preferably disclosed on the terminal 6(x) so that the totaldonated amount and the total amount of received donations can be known.

(2) Indirect Donation from Third Party:

This is a case where the third party does not participate in the sessionauction on the basis of an intention to make a donation of apredetermined amount for a medical cost, but a specific behavior of thethird party indirectly contributes to the reduction of the medical cost.The specific behavior of the third party is, for example, anumber-selection type lottery whose prize is finally won when aplurality of pieces of winning factor information (A and B) are hit(hereinafter referred to as “the lottery”). When all or a part of betsof such the lottery is transferred to the bank account for donations,the session server 3 shares the bets among patients and medicalinstitutions desiring to carry out a session trade in the medical costadjusting system 100, evenly or in accordance with balances in patients'bank accounts. Further, various distribution methods are included, forexample, each patient may directly refer to the contribution historydescribed in (1) above to determine a share of a donation to be receivedby himself or herself on the basis of amounts of donations which havebeen made by the patient to other persons.

A person who buys the lottery expects to receive a prize of anappropriate amount when he or she wins the prize. However, when thelottery number and the winning number specified by the purchaser areattempted to be sent or received via a network or the like, the data maybe falsified by an illegal information operation of a person of amalicious mind. Accordingly, the medical cost adjusting system 100according to the present invention makes the lottery be held fairlywithout a winning number being determined arbitrarily by a person of amalicious mind. In the case of this embodiment, the winning factorinformation A is, for example, time information to be added to an endtime of a session (e.g., +4 hr). On the other hand, the winning factorinformation B is preferably information which can be uniquely specifiedin one session and set on the basis of information disclosed to thegeneral public. The disclosed information includes, for example, averagestock prices in the New York, London and Tokyo stock markets at the endof a session (in case of a closed market, a closing price is applied).

The session server 3 encodes the winning factor information A anddistributes the winning factor information A to purchasers of thelottery via the network before the time at which the winning number isdetermined. A participant of the lottery selects a predetermined numberof (e.g., five) optional natural numbers from natural numbers within apredetermined range (e.g., 0 to 9) and buys the selected numbers as onelottery ticket during the session, and a winning order is determineddepending on the number of winning natural numbers. The withdrawal ofthe purchase price for the lottery can be settled in the same manner asthe settlement of a direct donation by a third party. The winningnumbers are determined, for example, as follows. The session server 3adds the winning factor information A at the end time of the objectsession, and specifies as the winning factor information B a pluralityof numbers obtained from converting average stock prices of theaforementioned plurality of stock markets at the end time (or asucceeding time closest to end time) into dollars at the exchange rateat the end time. A specific example is that, assuming that a NikkeiStock Average of the Tokyo stock market converted into dollars at thetime obtained from adding 4 to the end time of a session is $154.04, anaverage stock price of the London stock market (upper 100 companies)converted into dollars is $11,000.54 and an average stock price of theNew York stock market (conversion into dollars is not necessary) is$1,200.31, these values are each multiplied by 100, upper and lowerdigits are inverted, upper 5 digits of the numbers are added, and upperfive digits of the result of the addition is determined to be thewinning number.

A specific example is given below.

There can be obtained 40,541+45,000+12,003=97,544 from summing up thefollowing three values:

-   -   Tokyo: 145.04×100=14,504→4,0541,    -   London: 11,000.54×100=1,100,054→4,000,011→45,000, and    -   New York: 1,200.31×100=1,120,031→12,003.

Accordingly, numerals 9, 7, 5, 4 and 4 are determined to be winningnumbers and a person who hits the five numbers wins the first prize. Inaddition, the digit places are inverted to prevent the winning numbersfrom being affected greatly by minute changes in stock prices. If thedigit places are not inverted, anyone can easily estimate some of thefive numbers by observing changes in stock prices and the lottery is notsubstantially won on the basis of pure guessing of the five numbers.

In addition, described above is only one example and, needless to say, acase where various corrections are made is also included. For example,one value “97,544” taking into consideration of digit places may bewinning numbers instead of regarding that each of the five numbers isindependent of other numbers.

The session server 3 distributes key information to decode the code andsession ending time information to the purchasers of the lottery whenthe winning number determination time is passed. The purchasers of thelottery know that the value of the winning factor information A is “+4”by decoding the winning factor information distributed in advance byusing the key information. The determination algorithm of the winningnumbers is preferably announced to the participants of the lottery inadvance or distributed together with the code key.

By the above procedures, the purchasers of the lottery can verify thatthe winning numbers are calculated from the average stock prices and theexchange rate at the time the session ending time information and thewinning factor information A are added. Further, according to thewinning number determining method of the present embodiment, it ispossible to judge whether the winning numbers are determined in a fairmanner.

Furthermore, the winning numbers may be determined in real time modewith the winning number determination time. Specifically, average stockprice information and exchange rate information of the Tokyo, New Yorkand London stock markets are stored in a database 5 at a predeterminedtime interval (e.g., 1 min) so that the patient, the medical institutionand the purchasers of the lottery can check the momentarily changingaverage stock price and exchange rate information at the predeterminedtime interval on respective terminals. This information is preferablydisplayed visually as a graph so that the contents thereof can be knowneasily. The winning number is determined also by searching in thisdatabase 5 so that the winning numbers are determined substantially inreal time mode by specifying the winning number determination time, forexample, after few minutes from the end of the session. This method iseffective to inspire the sense of presence in processing up to thedetermination of the winning number and an intention to buy the lottery.

(3) Non-Personal Donation:

The medical cost adjusting system 100 of the present embodiment alsoaccepts donations from parties other than individual persons. FIG. 7 isa schematic diagram showing a flow of a donation. For example, a part ofan interest or a share accompanied with a commodity treated by a bank,an association or a foundation is collected to form one financialinstitution (hereinafter referred to as “the M bank”), and a donation issent from the M bank to the medical cost adjusting system 100, and thenthe session server 3 transfers the donation from the account of the Mbank to the patient's bank account. In addition, the amount of thedonation by the M bank is changed in accordance with the deposit balanceor the operation result thereof, and the donation is shared inaccordance with the result of past donations distributed evenly topatients.

Here, returning to the flowchart shown in FIG. 4, the session server 3transits to the start of a real reverse session after confirming sessionmembers (i.e., user objects) to participate in the reverse session (stepS44).

First, a timer and various parameters, which will be described later,are initially set (step S45). The timer is provided to judge whether adonation is made and, if made, to judge and carry out processing forreflecting an amount corresponding to the donation to a medical costpresented by a patient or the above both institutions, and moreover,ending of a session and the like at a predetermined time interval (T*α).Here, T and α denote a parameter reviewing time interval of the userobject item shown in FIG. 3 and a variation coefficient of the parameterreviewing time interval (α), respectively. Further, “a desired providingamount”, which is an amount presented by a medical institution to besuccessfully bid when a patient makes a bid at not less than thepresented amount and “a desired obtaining amount”, which is an amountpresented by a patient to be successfully bid when a medical institutionmakes a bid at not more than the presented amount as well as a specificthreshold value may be set as various parameters. Specific examplesthereof include, “a lower limit of a providing amount”, which is athreshold value price, that is, the lowest price at which a successfulbid can be made at the end of a session, and “an upper limit of anobtaining amount”, that is, the highest price at which a successful bidcan be made at the end of a session. These parameters can also bechanged at a predetermined time interval (T*α).

The session server 3 execute session processing in accordance with thepresence of the desired obtaining amount (i.e., a successful bid amountdesired by a patient) and the upper limit of an obtaining amount (i.e.,a largest amount payable by a patient).

(i) Case Where a Bid is Made (Yes in Step S47):

When a patient specifies a desired obtaining amount (Yes in step S49)and the least amount (the least providing bid amount) of a desiredproviding amount for which a bid is made by a medical institution isless than or equal to the desired obtaining amount (Yes in step S51), anagreement and a deal is made between the patient and the medicalinstitution, then the session is ended before a predetermined sessionending time (step S52). On the other hand, even if the least providingbid amount is larger than a desired obtaining medical cost (No in stepS51), when the least providing bid amount is not larger than the upperlimit of an amount (i.e., an upper limit of an amount payable by thepatient), the session is ended upon conclusion of a negotiation or, whena donation is made (Yes in step S57), the addition of the amountcorresponding to the donation to the desired obtaining amount or thesubtraction of the same from the least providing bid amount are repeateduntil the session ends (step S46). Further, when a reduction rate of theleast providing bid amount per unit time during a session is large, stepS57 also returns to step S46 and takes the same effect as that of theaddition and subtraction of the amount corresponding to the donation.That is, in the case where the reduction rate of the least providing bidamount per unit time is large, the medical institution lowers thepresented amount during the session, and this means that the medicalinstitution has a strong intention of making a successful bid at theauction and desires to positively provide a medical service.Accordingly, the session server 3 needs to make a negotiation beconcluded easily so that a deal is done in the next session. For thispurpose, the desired obtaining amount or the least providing bid amountis adjusted in step S46.

Furthermore, when a donation is not made or the reduction rate of theleast providing bid amount per unit time is too small and the medicalinstitution therefore has no intention to positively make a successfulbid (No in step S57), the session server 3 does not intentionally lowerthe desired obtaining amount, but makes a correction by adding apredetermined increase to the current desired obtaining amount. However,when the patient specifies the upper limit of an obtaining amount, thesession server 3 adjusts the increase of the desired obtaining amount tonot more than the upper limit thereof (step S60), or when the patientdoes not specify the upper limit of an obtaining amount, the sessionserver 3 adjusts the obtaining amount by adding the predeterminedincrease to the desired obtaining amount to the desired obtaining amountin the next session (step S59). Thereafter, the session server 3 repeatsthis series of processing at the predetermined time interval until thesession ending time comes.

(ii) Case Where No Bid is Made (No in Step S47):

The session server 3 repeats the addition of the donation to the desiredobtaining amount or the subtraction of the same from the least providingbid amount (steps S48 and S46), and ends the session when a sessiontimeout occurs (Yes in step S48) assuming that the negotiation has notbeen concluded and the deal is therefore not done (step S62).

Note that the processing for increasing the desired obtaining amount atthe predetermined time interval in steps S59 and S60 above appropriatelyincorporates the relationship between a demand and a supply in a trade.That is, when a desired obtaining amount is raised or a least providingbid amount is lowered as a result of collecting donations, there is ahigh possibility of making a successful bid at an amount of not lessthan a current bid amount and therefore, the desired obtaining amountneeds not to be intentionally changed. On the other hand, when donationscannot be collected, it is difficult to make a successful bid at thecurrent bid amount and therefore, the desired obtaining amount isrevised up for a predetermined increased amount (an increased value atthe time of revising up the obtaining amount) within the range of theupper limit of an obtaining amount to bring the desired obtaining amountclose to the least providing bid amount.

In addition, instead of automatically carrying out the above sessionprocessing under the management of the session server 3, the sessionmanager may intervene in the observation of a trade by the patient andthe medical institution by changing the least providing bid amount (stepS46). Some patient has no intention to purchase a medical service bydaringly lower the desired obtaining medical cost or, on the other hand,some patient hopes to receive a medical service from the medicalinstitution at any cost. The session members thus have various levels ofintentions to make a successful bid. At the auction of the presentembodiment, an intention to make a successful bid of a party concernedin the trade is reflected to a change in the desired obtaining medicalcost or the least providing bid amount regardless of whether the sessionprocessing is carried out automatically or intervened by a humanoperation.

Further, an objective judgment of a third party on the appropriatenessof the desired obtaining medical cost and the least providing bid amountmay be incorporated to the aforementioned automatic determinationalgorithm. A specific example is that, the third party observing thesession enters “appropriate” or “inappropriate” to vote the idea thereofabout an adjusted medical cost by pressing a button on the optionalterminal 6(x), or sends a questionnaire created by text entry to thesession server 3. The session server 3 may objectively evaluate theabove information by statistical analysis to raise or lower the currentbid price.

The above-described automatic determination algorithm for a medical costis applied when a medical service presented by the medical institutionis determined in the reverse session under the initiative of thepatient. On the contrary, there is an algorithm for determining amedical cost in the regular session under the initiative of the medicalinstitution, that is, the providing side in the reverse session. FIG. 5shows the entire structure of the algorithm. FIG. 6 shows procedures ofa trade in the regular session. The regular session is a form whereinthe medical institution puts up a medical service at a network auctionand each patient makes a bid for the medical service. The regularsession auction can be made carried out as a basic form when aconscientious medical institution provides a medical service at a lowprice.

The integration of the reverse session with the regular session forsupplementation is similar to the case where the regular session isintegrated with the reverse session for supplementation. The operationprocedures of the regular session are basically the same as those of thereverse session. In order to integrate the both sessions by eliminatingthe difference therebetween, the session server pucks up a patient whomakes a bid at the regular session auction (i.e., the passive/obtainingtype user object) together with introducing a patient, who makes a bidat the reverse session auction (i.e., the active/obtaining type userobject), into the regular auction as a member thereof. At this time, thesession server narrows down the number of target patients to a specificnumber in the same manner as in the reverse session.

Further, in the case of the regular session, since the relationshipbetween the seller and the bidder is exactly opposite to that in thereverse session, the desired obtaining amount is replaced by the desiredproviding amount, the least providing bid amount by the largestobtaining bid amount, the least providing bid amount by the largestobtaining bid amount, and the upper limit of an obtaining amount by thelower limit of a providing amount, respectively. In addition, thelargest obtaining bid amount represents the largest amount of alldesired obtaining amounts and the lower limit of a providing amountrepresents the lower limit of an amount at which a medical institutioncan carry out a medical service.

In addition, when either session is carried out as a base, the medicalinstitution really diagnoses the patient and the medical institution andthe patient reconsider each other's information, then the patientfinally judges whether to receive a medical service and the medicalinstitution finally judges whether to give a medical treatment. That is,the medical institution can cancel a successful bid upon knowing that itis difficult to collect a medical cost as a result of real diagnosis. Onthe other hand, the medical institution is obliged to provide a medicalservice at the price corresponding to the successfully-bid medical costupon judging that the medical cost is collectable. Further, the sessionmay be constructed so that, when the medical institution participatingin the session adjusts a medical cost including a cost for an expectedtrouble with the patient in addition to a real necessary medical costand no trouble however occurs after the medical service is really given,the trouble cost is returned to the patient. The present invention canthus provides the system and the technique taking into consideration ofthe actual circumstances in the field of real medical treatment.

According to the medical cost adjusting system 100 or 200 of the presentembodiment, since a seller and a buyer whose demands are optimally matchto each other can be found quickly by virtue of the integration of theboth sessions, a time required to determine a medical cost can beshortened and, at the same time, the medical cost can be suppressed to arational and reasonable amount. That is, since the mechanism ofadjusting a medical cost under the market principle is adopted, generalcitizens can accept medical treatments for diseases at optimum medicalcosts so that an unreasonable rise of a medical cost can be suppressed.

<Application Example: Integration of Medical cost Adjusting System 100or 200 and Life Insurance Policy Trading>

Described next will be an effective example for the case where, forexample, an insured person suffering from a disease desires to receive amedical service and to apply a death benefit from his or her lifeinsurance policy to the medical service, however, since the deathbenefit should be received by the bereaved family, the insured personcannot receive the medical service in his or her lifetime. This is asystem having the integrated form of the above session trade of amedical service in the medical cost adjusting system 100 or 200 with asession wherein a life insurance policy of an insured patient is traded,and a schematic diagram thereof is shown in FIG. 8. The life insurancepolicy trading means that, in the regular life insurance policy trading,a person who desires to be insured makes a bid at a desired price for alife insurance policy presented by an insurance company or, in thereverse life insurance policy trading, an insurance company makes a bidfor a life insurance policy at a desired price presented by a person whodesires to be insured and the insurance company finally sells the lifeinsurance policy to the person who desires to be insured.

When a session for trading a life insurance policy is opened and aninsurance company makes a successful bid for the commodity, then thelife insurance policy is determined to be assigned or resold to theperson who desires to be insured, the medical cost adjusting systemsubsequently applies the amount for assignment of the life insurancepolicy Including a medical insurance) to the desired obtaining medicalcost for receiving a medical service, and opens the reverse session.That is, the assignment money owned by the patient but not given theretoduring the lifetime thereof is used at the auction to receive themedical service. Thus, this insurance policy is essentially a lifeinsurance policy, and when a patient suffers from a disease aftercontracting the insurance for the bereaved family to receive theinsurance money at the time of his or her death and therefore needsmoney before his or her death, it is possible to raise a medical cost atthe session auction according to the present invention and can avoidagreeing to one-sided price adjustment by a medical institution.Accordingly, according to the system in this application example, it canbe expected that the patient undergoes a medical consultation at a lowerprice than a conventional medical cost. Further, as in theaforementioned system 100 or 200, a donation is collected in the sessionand the amount corresponding to the donation may be subtracted from amedical cost to be demanded by the medical institution and paid by theinsurance company. In addition, the life insurance policy to be tradedin the insurance service session includes a viatical and life settlementpolicy.

Next, features of the life insurance policy trading will be described.

1. Qualification to Participate in Session

-   -   It is desirable to request a person who desires to be insured        (e.g., a patient) and to be a session member of the life        insurance policy trading to undergo a periodic health        examination and the session server can request the person for        disclosure of the result of the examination. The insurance        company needs to grasp the physical condition of the person who        desires to be insured for judgment of appropriateness of selling        the life insurance policy. However, if the insurance company        carries out this health examination, a fair cost is needed. The        patient bears this cost resulting in reduction of the insurance        due thereof.    -   Bidders for the life insurance policy put up by the patient at        the life insurance policy trading include insurance companies,        and does not exclude the insurance company which puts the life        insurance policy on sale. When the insurance company which puts        the life insurance policy on sale finally makes a successful bid        to buy the commodity, it is considered that the profit of the        insurance company whereto the commodity is assigned increases        since the procedures of assignment to another insurance company        or the like can be simplified.

2. Adjustment of Insurance Due of Life Insurance Policy

-   -   It is preferable that the number of contractors of the life        insurance policy being traded at the auction is displayed on the        terminal connected to the session server, and the insurance due        of the next month is changed in accordance with a change in the        number of insurers in each month or furthermore, a result of        simulation representing the relationship between the predicted        number of contracted insurers and insurance dues to inspire a        motivation to be insured.    -   As it can be said in general that an infant or an aged pays more        costs to a medical institution than people in their ages of        twenties and thirties, an average medical cost differs depending        on a patient's age. Accordingly, it is preferable that a basic        data for adjusting an insurance due is on the basis of        probability data obtained from a death rate of people in each        age. It is further preferable that information presented by the        patient who is a session member of the auction trade of the        medical cost adjusting system 100 or 200. The reason is that an        insurance due is adjusted taking into consideration of personal        information of each patient since a lifestyle habit        (particularly, smoking) greatly affects a prevalence rate of the        patient.

3. Donation Function

-   -   The life insurance policy trading alone also has a function to        accept a donation. Since the donation reduces a burden of an        insurance company, the insurance company gives a preferential        treatment regarding an insurance due to a donator, that is,        reduces the insurance due. This rule may be applied not only to        a newly insured person but to an already insured person. The        preferential amount can be varied on the basis of, for example,        annual income and expenditure on premise that the insurance due        of the donator is lower than that of a person who has not made        any donation. It can be considered that insurance dues of        persons each of whom has made a donation more than once are        uniformly reduced, or an insurance due to be paid by a person        next time will be treated more preferentially as the total        amount of donations made by the person increases.    -   Further, it is preferable that an insurance due of a person who        has made a donation via the M bank is also treated        preferentially. The M bank operates collected deposits, returns        a part of the obtained fund to an insurance company, and the        insurance company reduces insurance dues of depositors of the M        bank.    -   Instead of the direct transfer of donations to insurance        companies, donations to insurance companies may be collected        uniformly and then are reassigned to the insurance companies        followed by determination of insurance dues.    -   It is preferable that result information of donations (e.g.,        number of donations, a total amount of donations, a rate of a        donation to an asset/income of each donator) is stored in a        database or a user object and displayed on a terminal in a        comparable form with information of other donators. The reason        is that, knowing donation results of other donators may lead to        the inspiration of an intention to make a donation upon        objective evaluation of own donations.    -   The result information related to donations (numeric values and        comments) may be usable as a self appeal information to ask a        third party for a much donation. A party who has made a much        donation is rewarded to induce donations to the auction.

Thus, in the case of the life insurance policy trading, a donation leadsto the reduction of an insurance due of the donator and, as describedabove, the donator is qualified to receive a support of a donation fromanother party at the auction so as to receive a desired medical serviceat a reasonable price.

<Other Functions of Medical Cost Adjusting System>

The following should be noted when really operating the medical costadjusting system according to the present invention.

-   -   (a) The management authority of the medical cost adjusting        system demands a participant of the auction to comply with laws        and regulations and strictly carry out an admission examination        to prevent the leakage and the illegal use of personal        information and business information between traders. Therefore,        a predetermined compliance of the management authority can be        specified to have the session member make an oath not to use the        auction trade for an illegal purpose in advance.    -   (b) A patient who desires to put up a commodity at the auction        of the medical cost adjusting system according to the present        invention may be made obliged to contract a medical insurance of        an insurance company tied up with the management authority of        the medical cost adjusting system.    -   (c) Since an auction is originally executed on the basis of the        adjustment of a price on the basis of competition of a plurality        of auctioneers, it is meaningless without a plurality of bidders        present at the auction. Accordingly, a plurality of medical        institutions have made contracts with the management authority        of the medical cost adjusting system to participate in the        auction as session members as a precondition. In addition, the        session members include general members (general citizens and        possible patients), members of medical institutions (hospitals        and doctors) and members of insurance and financial        institutions.

Furthermore, in the case of a network auction, there is a fear thatanother person gets around the regulations of the aforementionedcompliance and participates in the auction by disguising himself as theauthenticated participant. Therefore, the medical cost adjusting systemis preferably provided with the following functions. For example, duringthe time a patient participates in the session, there are detected (a) avoice (by a microphone), (b) an expression on the face (by a camera),(c) an iris (by a camera), (d) a retina (by a camera), (e) voiceprinting (by an exclusive-purpose measuring equipment), (f) a bodytemperature (by a clinical thermometer), (g) a pulse (by anexclusive-purpose measuring equipment), (h) a brain wave (by anexclusive-purpose measuring equipment), (i) a blood pressure (by anexclusive-purpose measuring equipment), (j) a cutaneous electricalresistance (by an exclusive purpose measuring equipment) and the like tobe sent to the session server in real time mode or at a predeterminedtime intervals via various biographical information detection devices(the above measuring equipments in parentheses for detecting variouspieces of biometrics information) installed in the periphery of thepatient terminal (x). The same functions are required in the case wherea medical institution, an insurance company and the like participate inthe session.

(A) Personal Authentication Function:

The session server compares the sent information about the abovephysical and behavioral characteristics (biometrics information) of aperson with the master data collected from the patient and registered inthe database at the time of the admission examination and, if the twopieces of information do not match to each other, the session serverstops making the person participating in the session upon judgment thatthe person is not the one permitted to be registered. In addition, amedical institution may be authenticated in the same manner as thepersonal authentication. In this case, only an institution registered inadvance as a medical institution has the right to participate in theauction.

(B) Lie Detecting Function:

Such a trade related to a medical treatment or an insurance as the tradeaccording to the present invention is different from other commoditytrades in that, even when an authenticated person participate in thesession, the health condition of the person needs to be grasped or thereis a great importance in confirming that presented information iscorrect. Accordingly, the aforementioned biometrics information isdetected and used to detect a lie. Specifically, it should be observed(a) a shaking or a falsetto of a voice, (b) a sulky look of anexpression on the face, (g) rapid rising of a pulse, (i) rapid rising ofa blood pressure, (j) a change caused by sweat in a cutaneous electricalresistance, and the like.

Furthermore, (b) an expression on the face, (f) a body temperature, (g)a pulse, (i) a blood pressure and the like may be analyzed and comparedwith data of a human being in a usual condition to simply grasp thehealth information of the participant. An emotional sense can also beknown from (a) a voice, (b) an expression on the face, (g) a pulse, (i)a blood pressure and the like. The personal authentication, the lieconfirmation, the emotion recognition, and the health check can be thuscarried out simultaneously on the basis of the biometrics information ofthe participant of the session resulting in further improvement of thereliability of a trade in a session.

In addition, the above-described functions are provided not only for themedical cost adjusting system but also for the life insurance policytrading.

While the invention has been described with reference to a specificembodiment, the description is not meant to be construed in a limitingcase. Various modifications of the disclosed embodiment, as well asother embodiments of the invention, will be apparent to persons skilledin the art upon reference to this description. It is thereforecontemplated that the appended claims will cover any such modificationsor embodiments as fall within the true scope of the invention.

1. A medical cost adjusting method for determining a medical cost for amedical service provided by a medical institution to a patient, saidmethod comprising, regarding each medical service: a step of presentinga predicted medical cost as a desired providing amount to be charged ona patient by said medical institution for a medical treatment or aid, ifgiven; a step of presenting an amount payable for said medical serviceas a desired obtaining amount by said patient; a step of determiningsession members as parties concerned in an auction trade by integratinga reverse auction trade wherein matching of pieces of informationincluding at least said desired obtaining amount and said desiredproviding amount for a medical institution is carried out to make a bidfor said desired obtaining amount presented by said patient, and aregular auction trade wherein a patient makes a bid for said desiredproviding amount presented by said medical institution; a step ofexecuting an auction trade by said session members; and a step of endingan auction trade when either of said medical institutions makes a bidfor said desired providing amount, which is lower than said desiredobtaining amount presented by said patient, or when a predeterminedauction ending time is passed.
 2. A method according to claim 1, whereinpieces of information presented by said patient and said medicalinstitution are entered to a database as user objects, attributes ofsaid user objects being defined as follows: a) when said patient andsaid medical institution participate in a reverse auction trade, anattribute of a user object created from information presented by saidpatient is an active/obtaining type, and an attribute of informationpresented by said medical institution is a passive/provision type, andb) when said patient and said medical institution participate in aregular auction trade, an attribute of a user object created frominformation presented by said patient is a passive/obtaining type, andan attribute of information presented by said medical institution is anactive/provision type.
 3. A method according to claim 2, wherein whensaid matching is carried out to determine session members as partiesconcerned in an auction trade, any one of types of active/obtaining,passive/provision, passive/obtaining and active/provision, which arerespective attributes of said user objects, is distinguished to generatea regular auction group or a reverse auction group.
 4. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein when said matching is carried out todetermine session members as parties concerned in an auction trade,information including at least a contracted insurance information isincluded in said information subjected to said matching as well asamounts of medical costs presented by said patient and said medicalinstitution, respectively.
 5. A method according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a step of accepting a donation from a third party other thansaid session members as parties concerned in an auction trade; and astep of adjusting an amount on the basis of a desired obtaining amountwhereto said accepted donation amount is added and a desired providingamount wherefrom said accepted donation amount is subtracted so that anauction trade can be carried out.
 6. A method according to claim 5,wherein said donation is applied with a part of earnings obtained from aspecific action by a non-personal party including a third party or acorporation having no intention to directly make a donation for amedical cost.
 7. A method according to claim 6, wherein said earningsobtained by a specific action by a third party includes a lottery heldby investments made by unspecified many parties and a winning numberthereof is determined on the basis of a plurality of pieces of winninginformation including at least one piece of coded winning factorinformation.
 8. A method according to claim 7, wherein said winningfactor information includes an exchange rate and an average stock pricein one stock market or a plurality of stock markets and said winningnumber is determined on the basis of a value obtained by converting saidaverage stock price into an exchange rate at a predetermined time.
 9. Amethod according to claim 5, wherein in said step of executing anauction trade, when an upper limit of an obtaining amount indicatingthat an amount exceeding the upper limit is unpayable is presented bysaid patient, said desired obtaining amount is adjusted or a bid is madefor the same within the range of not more than said upper limit of anamount.
 10. A method according to claim 1 , wherein in said step ofexecuting an auction trade, appropriateness of price adjustment of saiddesired providing amount or said desired obtaining amount is evaluatedon the basis of statistical analysis of results of ballots orquestionnaires collected from parties other than said session members asparties concerned in an auction trade to adjust said desired providingamount or said desired obtaining amount.
 11. A medical cost adjustingmethod for determining a medical cost for a medical service provided bya medical institution to a patient, wherein, when a life insurancepolicy trading session such as a viatical and life settlement trading isopened as a condition to open an auction for said medical service, saidmedical cost adjusting method comprising: (a) in said life insurancepolicy trading session such as a viatical and life settlement trading,(i) a step of putting up an insurance policy as an insurance commodityat an auction by said patient; (ii) a step of making a bid for saidinsurance policy as an insurance commodity by one or a plurality ofinsurance companies; and (iii) a step of making a successful bid forsaid one insurance company or one of said plurality of insurancecompanies which has made a bid at a highest price of not less than aspecific price; or (b) in a session for said medical service: (i) a stepof presenting by said patient an insurance money presented by saidinsurance company, which has made a successful bid, as a payable desiredobtaining amount for said medical service; (ii) a step of presenting apredicted medical cost as a desired providing amount charged on apatient by said medical institution for a medical treatment or aid, ifgiven; and (iii) a step of ending an auction trade of said medicalservice when either of said medical institutions makes a bid for saiddesired providing amount, which is less than or equal to said desiredobtaining amount presented by said insurance company, or when apredetermined auction ending time is passed.
 12. A method according toclaim 11, wherein when said patient participates in said life insurancepolicy trading session such as a viatical and life settlement trading,said patient is requested for disclosure of a result of a medicalexamination of said patient himself/herself so that said insurancecompany can use said medical examination result to judge appropriatenessof selling an insurance policy as an insurance commodity or to adjust aninsurance due.
 13. A method according to claim 11, wherein an insurancedue of an insurance policy as an insurance commodity traded in said lifeinsurance policy trading session such as a viatical and life settlementtrading may be adjusted on the basis of probability data derived from adeath rate of each person in each age or by referring to personal livinginformation of said patient.
 14. A method according to any one of claims11, further comprising: a step of accepting a donation for a patient oran insurance company in said life insurance policy trading session suchas a viatical and life settlement trading, wherein said insurancecompany which has accepted said donation gives a preferential treatmentregarding an insurance due of an insurance policy as an insurancecommodity to a party which has made a donation.
 15. A method accordingto claim 14, wherein result information of said donation is recorded anddisplayed in a comparable manner with other donators.
 16. A methodaccording to claim 1, wherein biographical information of said patientis detected during an auction and compared with master data of saidpatient registered in advance for personal authentication, liedetection, emotion recognition or health checking of said patient.
 17. Amethod according to claim 11, wherein biographical information of saidpatient is detected during an auction and compared with master data ofsaid patient registered in advance for personal authentication, liedetection, emotion recognition or health checking of said patient.
 18. Amethod according to claim 16, wherein said biographical information ofsaid patient includes at least one of a voice, an expression on a face,an iris, a retina, a voice printing, a body temperature, a pulse, abrain wave, a blood pressure and a cutaneous electrical resistance. 19.A method according to claim 17, wherein said biographical information ofsaid patient includes at least one of a voice, an expression on a face,an iris, a retina, a voice printing, a fingerprint, a biomembrane, ablood vessel and a capillary of human hands and other parts of humanliving body, a body temperature, a pulse, a brain wave, a blood pressureand a cutaneous electrical resistance.
 20. A medical cost adjustingsystem for determining a medical cost for a medical service provided bya medical institution to a patient through an auction trade, saidmedical cost adjusting system comprising: a system server connected viaa network; a patient terminal; and a medical institution terminal, (a)said patient terminal transmitting a payable amount for said medicalservice as a desired obtaining amount to said system server via saidnetwork, (b) said medical institution terminal transmitting a predictedmedical cost as a desired amount to be charged on a patient for amedical treatment or aid, if given, (c) said system server (i)determining session members as parties concerned in an auction trade bymatching pieces of information including at least said desired obtainingamount and said desired providing amount to integrate a reverse auctiontrade, wherein a medical institution makes a bid for a desired obtainingamount presented by said patient, and a regular auction trade, wherein apatient makes a bid for a desired providing amount presented by saidmedical institution; (ii) carrying out an auction trade by said sessionmembers; and (iii) ending an auction trade when either of said medicalinstitutions makes a bid for said desired providing amount, which isless than or equal to said desired obtaining amount presented by saidpatient, or a predetermined auction ending time is passed.
 21. A medicalcost adjusting system for determining a medical cost for a medicalservice provided by a medical institution to a patient through anauction trade including a subsystem wherein a life insurance policytrading session such as a viatical and life settlement trading is openedas a condition to open an auction for said medical service and, (a) insaid subsystem for said life insurance policy trading session such as aviatical and life settlement trading: (i) said patient transmitsinformation about an insurance policy as an insurance commodity to asubsystem server via a network; (ii) one insurance company or aplurality of insurance companies transmits (transmit) a bid for saidinformation about an insurance policy as an insurance commodity to saidsubsystem server via said network; (iii) said subsystem serverdetermines to make a bid for said one insurance company or one of saidplurality of insurance companies which has made a bid at a highest priceof not less then a specific price; (b) in a system where said medicalservice auction is opened: (i) said patient transmits an insurance moneypresented by said insurance company for which a bid was made in saidsubsystem as a payable desired obtaining amount for said medical serviceto said system server via said network; (ii) said medical institutiontransmits a predicted medical cost as a desired providing amount to becharged on a patient for a medical treatment or aid, if given; and (iii)said system server ends an auction trade for said medical service wheneither of said medical institutions makes a bid for said desiredproviding amount, which is less than or equal to said desired obtainingamount presented by said insurance company, or a predetermined auctionending time is passed.
 22. A system according to claim 20, wherein anauction trade for said medical service is carried out upon adjustment ofsaid desired obtaining amount or said desired providing amount by usinga donation made by a person or an organization unrelated to a trade ofsaid medical service or earnings obtained by a specific action of saidperson or said organization.
 23. A system according to claim 21, whereinan auction trade for said medical service is carried out upon adjustmentof said desired obtaining amount or said desired providing amount byusing a donation made by a person or an organization unrelated to atrade of said medical service or earnings obtained by a specific actionof said person or said organization.